Do Falling Alternative Energy Funds Returns Signal Danger?

Green Mutual Fund Returns Falter

Returns for green mutual funds have slid as of late. Longer term, however, alternative energy MFs are still showing strong gains. All MFs are in positive territory for the past 12 months, and 6 out of 14 funds are up double digits. Three year returns have faired even better, showing an annualized return of 14.3% on average.

Short term, however, almost all the funds have given up a significant amount of their recent gains. For example, Firsthand Alternative Energy (ALTEX), the MF with the best one-year returns, gave up 6.1% of its gains in September. In fact all MFs are trading down in the past month, and 11 out of 14 funds are in the red for the past quarter…

Alternative Energy ETFs Lower Gains

Alternative energy ETFs are down substantially from the levels they were at earlier this year. ETFs are up over 9% on average in 12 months, but this is much below the 28% average gains ETFs had in June, and the 65% average annual returns ETFs were seeing in November 2013. All ETFs are down for the month, and 15 out of 17 show losses for the quarter.

The ETF with the best one-year return is Guggenheim Solar (TAN), up over 30% in the past 12 months. This is not surprising, considering TAN holds many high-flying solar stocks, including SolarCity (SCTY), Enphase Energy (ENPH) and SunPower (SPWR)…

DISCLOSURE

Individuals involved with the Roen Financial Report and Swiftwood Press LLC do not own or control shares of any companies mentioned in this article. It is also possible that individuals may own or control shares of one or more of the underlying securities contained in the Mutual Funds or Exchange Traded Funds mentioned in this article. Any advice and/or recommendations made in this article are of a general nature and are not to be considered specific investment advice. Individuals should seek advice from their investment professional before making any important financial decisions. See Terms of Use for more information.